According to Osho, money is 'dead' to him; for thirty years he has neither touched nor carried it, even removing pockets from his robes. He lives by trust and communion: his disciples intuit and provide whatever is needed, so practical details like Swiss currency are irrelevant. Surrendering personal control to existence and loving community, he finds needs met effortlessly without possession, purchase, or concern for money.
Money doesn’t matter to him—he trusts loving people and life to give what’s needed, so he doesn’t know or carry currency.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Are you familiar with swiss currency?
I am not familiar with any currency. I have not touched money for thirty years. My people take every care of me. I don't even have pockets in my robe. When I first told my tailor thirty years ago, "Don't make pockets," he said, "What are you saying? Then when you need to carry some money or something, where will you keep it?" I said, "From now on money is dead to me." He said, "You are crazy and you drive ME crazy. Money is dead? But the pockets are harmless; let them remain because by chance you may need to carry something." I said, "No." For thirty years I have not touched money. For five years I have been in America and I have not even seen a dollar bill. There is no need. I have never purchased anything, I have never gone to any shop. My people love…
What is money and why are most people deeply uncomfortable about it in one way or another?
A wandering monk came to see me two or three years ago and he was very much against money. He would not even touch it -- this is a neurosis. There are people who only count money the whole day, and in the night also, in their minds, they go on counting. They touch only money with a loving hand, they never touch anybody else with a loving hand. When they look at their currency notes, watch their eyes -- they sparkle. They are hypnotized. These are neurotic people. Then there are other neurotics... This wandering monk came to me, he would not touch money. So I said: Then it must be very difficult for you. How did you come to Bombay to see me? He said: There is nothing difficult. He showed two other men, his disciples: they could touch, they were not such evolved beings. What foolishness! They…
Switzerland is a rich and beautiful country, but there are so many people suffering for many reasons, and they even enjoy this. Why can't they use their freedom and prosperity to be happy?
Humanity can be divided into two parts: the first is sadist, the second is masochist. The sadist enjoys torturing others; the masochist enjoys torturing himself. This is a very ugly situation, but for centuries we have been cultivating this split. The people who are masochists have become great saints. Their only quality, their only genius, was that they tortured themselves. It was thought and propagated by the religions of the world that to torture oneself is the way to God. There is no logic in it because why, if there is any God, would he like his children to torture themselves? -- unless he himself is a sadist and enjoys people being tortured by others or by themselves. These philosophies of masochism have been predominant. The people who had no other talents, no other creative possibilities, easily chose to torture themselves -- fast, beat yourself, find out new ways of…
Osho, is there really absolutely no place for renunciation in your religion? The question arises because since I came in contact with you, many things in my life have dropped away. I cannot even relate to my old self.
Renunciation can teach you to drop sex, to drop tasteful food, to drop clothes, to be naked, to drop all possessions -- but in a strange way you will remain attached to all those things. When I was in Bombay, a Hindu monk came to see me; he had a disciple with him and he wanted to know what kind of meditation would be suitable for him. I told him, "Tomorrow morning we are meeting near the beach and we will be doing the meditation. It is better that you come there because it is a question of a practical experience." He said, "It will be very difficult for me to come tomorrow. The day after tomorrow I can come." I said, "What is the problem with tomorrow?" He said, "The problem is that my disciple has some work tomorrow morning, he cannot come." But I said, "Let him do…
What is your attitude to money?
God has nothing to do with money. You can have God with as much money as you want, and you can have God without money, without as much money as you want. God has nothing to do with money. A rich man can become meditative, a poor man can become meditative. But my understanding is thins: that if a poor man wants to become meditative, he will need TREMENDOUS intelligence -- because he will have to see the futility of money which he does not have. He will need tremendous intelligence. Kabir must have been tremendously intelligent -- I think more intelligent than Buddha and Mahavir. My reason for saying so is this: Buddha had money, Mahavir had money. If they became fed-up, it is simple, it is logical. It is as simple as "two plus two are four." If Buddha had not renounced the palace, then it would have…